New Day
by ShinyCDiver
Summary: It's New Year's and it's also Dia's birthday so I figured I'd write a fic for it. You can pretty much guess how this goes.


**I literally got this idea at midnight so it's a bit rushed to get it done before Dia's birthday ended.**

 **It's still Jan. 1st where I am so it's not late. It's not late!**

* * *

A lone girl walked briskly through the crowded sidewalk. She paid no attention to the brightly colored decorations in the shops she passed; there was only one thing on her mind as she walked. Tonight would be New Year's Eve, and she needed to find a certain something for her younger sister. What was it, you ask? Pumpkins. That's right. She, Kurosawa Dia, was walking around Numazu in search of pumpkins for her little sister.

Her hands were cold in the pockets of her jacket. She had forgotten to wear her gloves in her hurry to get to the city. At least she'd remembered her scarf; her neck and the lower half of her face was nice and warm. She needed to find some pumpkins to make the pumpkin pudding Ruby had so thoroughly enjoyed during Halloween that she had asked her to make it for their New Year's together. Of course, Dia couldn't turn her sister down. She did intend to tell Ruby off a bit when she returned home on the proper timing of asking for the pudding.

She didn't even know if there were still pumpkins to be found anywhere. The season for pumpkins was over already. Though there was the option of making the pudding with canned pumpkin, Dia refused to let her sister eat pudding with anything less than the freshest of ingredients.

Dia spent the greater part of the afternoon hunting through all of the city's markets she could reach on foot, only giving up to catch the last train back to Uchiura. As she sat there in the completely empty compartment, she tried to think of a substitute for the pumpkin pudding. She didn't want to completely disappoint Ruby, but there was really nothing she could do. It was far too late to make something homemade in time, and she was sure that most of the stores in their little town had closed early to observe the event.

"I guess I can only apologize and make it up to her later…" Dia sighed, unhappy with the decision she had come to. What a way to welcome the New Year, being unable to fill the one request that her sister made of her.

The sun was setting as she walked home, her hands empty. She stopped short just as she was about to open the door. Dia could hear voices, multiple voices, some louder than others. She slid the front door open.

"Aaah!" You tumbled off the stepladder she was using. The second year fell on her back and lay there, grimacing in pain.

Dia stared at the brunette for a moment, decided not to ask, and stepped around her. She shut the door behind her. After taking her boots off, and arranging them properly in the corner-unlike the strange assortment of sneakers and boots that were littering the entryway, Dia set off to the lounge, where she had left her sister earlier that day. Behind her, she heard You get to her feet and follow.

She turned the corner into the lounge. "What are you do-" Dia looked around at the frozen scene. Kanan and Mari were hanging up streamers, Ruby and Hanamaru were making more, and Chika seemed to be carrying a tray of drinks that she was about to drop. The orange-haired second year teetered, trying to keep her balance.

A minute later, the tray of drinks was safely on the little table Ruby and Hanamaru had previously been sitting at. The girls that had been in the room, including You who had followed her in, were all kneeling in front of her.

"One of you, explain what you were doing." Dia said, casting a stern gaze over all of them.

"We were setting up for a New Year's Party!" Mari offered cheerfully, a cat-like smile on her face.

"But why at our house? And without asking permission first?" She had not heard of any plans to have a celebration with all nine members. (Riko and Yoshiko were cooking in the kitchen but both had been dragged out as soon as Dia learned of their presence.) In fact, Mari had implied the opposite. Earlier the same week, Mari told Dia of a grand party behind held at her home.

"We did get permission!" Chika protested. "From Ruby-chan!"

Ruby made a small squeak as the attention turned to her. Not meeting Dia's gaze, the girl mumbled, "I-It was supposed to be a surprise for you…"

"But then you went ahead and ruined the surprise by coming home too quickly!" Mari jumped in, once again becoming the center of attention. No one noticed the wink she gave the shyer first year.

"What do you mean coming home too quickly? This is my house, not yours!" Dia shouted angrily. With great difficulty, she managed to calm herself. Since it was Ruby who had planned the surprise party (or so she assumed), she would let it slide this time. For her beloved little sister's sake. She walked over to the end of the streamers Kanan had dropped and picked it up.

"Dia?"

"Fine, whatever. If we're going to hold a New Year's party together, so be it!" Dia looked over to the ladder that had fallen over in the girls' hurry to appease Dia's wrath. They were still kneeling on the tatami floor. "Well? Finish what you started!"

With a great cheer, the other members got to their feet and hurried back to their individual projects. While they did that, Dia took Ruby to the side.

"Onee-chan?" Ruby asked in a trembling voice.

Dia thought about whether to reprimand Ruby for allowing all of this to happen. She decided against it. "I'm sorry, Ruby. I won't be able to make you pumpkin pudding for tonight. There aren't any pumpkins right now, anywhere."

To her surprise, Ruby shook her head. "No, Onee-chan, it's fine! T-That was just a lie to get you out while we set up…" She looked like there was something else she wanted to say, but Dia was no longer listening.

By 'lie', did Ruby mean she actually hated the pudding she made before? Or did she-

"Dia!"

She turned to look at Mari. The blonde was waving energetically at her.

"What do you think?" The third year gestured at the absurd amount of streamers that now hung everywhere she and Kanan were able to find places to hang them from.

There were a large amount of things Dia found wrong/wanted to complain about with the way the other two third years did their 'decorating'. But since she already gave up on arguing the party, she didn't feel any motivation to give Mari the reaction she knew the other girl wanted.

Dia felt herself nodding off. It was nearly midnight now; Mari had taken it upon herself to keep everyone awake. Even now, the blonde was singing as annoyingly loud as possible. Kanan half-heartedly followed the beat with a tambourine that she had obtained from...somewhere. Their celebration hadn't been much of a celebration: Yoshiko set the pan she was using on fire twice before someone had the sense to replace her, Mari tried to hang up Christmas lights among the streamers "to make them SHINY" and ended up ripping about half of the streamers she put up, You gave up on trying to decorate the front hall after falling about five times in a row, Chika spilled drinks on the floor (luckily on the tiled floor of the kitchen), Kanan (Yoshiko's replacement) attempted to fry seaweed on the stove, Riko found a bottle of wine that had to be emptied out in the sink (to Mari's disappointment), Hanamaru ate most of the food as soon as it was made, and Ruby got a paper cut. Dia spent close to half an hour fussing over the small wound just so she wouldn't have to deal with the mess that was growing in size with each passing minute.

But now that hell was nearly over. As soon as the clock struck midnight, they could wish each other "Happy New Year" and then go to sleep.

She counted down the seconds. Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four…

"Three." Mari had started counting down verbally. The girls looked up from their various stupors as the third year counted into her microphone. "Two. One."

"Happy-" Dia started to say, just wanting to get it over with so she could sleep.

"Happy birthday, Dia (-san)!"

Multi-colored paper flew in her face as the members closest to her decided to pull party poppers right in front of her. It took a few minutes for her to comprehend what had just happened, during which the other members wished each other the best in the new year.

"What?" was all she managed to say.

"Surprise!" Mari cheered. "The New Year's party was just a diversion, just like the pumpkin shopping trip! It's now your birthday, so we're going to celebrate for real!"

Kanan tore down more of the streamers, revealing a "Happy Birthday" banner that had been hidden. Riko walked out of the kitchen with a cake balanced on a tray. Hidden party hats were passed around so that every girl wore a cone-shaped hat on her head.

Ruby pushed her stunned sister towards the table as Yoshiko lit the candles on top. "Make a wish, Onee-chan!"

Dia stared around at her friends' tired grins, still in shock. The fact that they planned all this for her did not fully sink in until she was gazing at the flickering flames on her cake. She made her wish and blew out the candles.

* * *

Omake: "Gifts"

Hanamaru: An assorted bag of snacks. It looks like she ate some already.

Yoshiko: A black cape. I'm not sure when I will use this.

Ruby: A small cat plush. Looks handmade. I will take care of this.

Chika: A jar of mikan jam. Homemade, her own recipe. Tastes okay.

Riko: A CD with all of our songs so far. Nothing like hearing our voices over and over again.

You: A shrine maiden costume. I..I don't know what to do with this.

Mari: A bag of coffee. At least it's normal.

Kanan: A pass for a free diving trip. Same thing she gets me every year.

Dia sat on her bed, looking at the new additions to her bedroom. She smiled fondly as she regarded the new picture frame that sat on her desk.


End file.
